On this page we
show some of Simon's drawings in a sketchbook. Starting with three drawings of the Japanese actress Sada Yacco
dated 8th February 1908,Theatre
Moderne in Paris.Darrel C. Karl collection

Drawing signed in pencil with the monogram TFS dated
1908 8/2 (February 8).
A the 'Theatre Moderne' Paris. FS 1908
8/2.
Title of performance in pencil "Les trois Seures (soeures = sisters)"
The Three Sisters is a play by the Russian author Anton Czekhov
(1860-1904).
Big image

According to Lesley Downer, author of Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who
Bewitched The West (Gotham Books 2003), "The following month [February
1908] she was persuaded to play a brief season at the
Théȃtre Moderne. A French paper revealed
that she commanded the phenomenal sum of twenty-five hundred francs per
appearance." Page 223. Downer doesn't mention the (play or plays) that
Yakko performed at the Théȃtre Moderne in Paris. However, it's known
that she previously performed twice in January 1908 a version of
Momiji-gari (Maple Viewing) called "Le Dragon des Érables" (The Dragon
of the Maples) at the Théȃtre Réjane in Paris, as well as another play
called "The Geisha and the Knight." Pages 222-223. On January 31, 1908,
there was a reception held at the Japanese Legation, and at the end of
the night she and her troupe gave a performance of Anton Chekhov's "The
Three Sisters" and a comedy called "The Cat's Mew." Page 223.
"The Three
Sisters" in French is "Les trois soeurs" - which is similar in
spelling to what appears on the dated drawing.